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Belfort recently told MMA Fighting that he administered his own tests for testosterone levels and “passed them all,” saying there’s nothing in his system. When he was pulled from the fight with Weidman at UFC 173, Lyoto Machida took his place. But then Weidman needed knee surgery, and the bout was moved to July’s UFC 175.

Belfort (24-10 MMA, 13-6 UFC) told the site because they canceled the originally UFC 173 booking with Weidman (11-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC), why not swap him back in for Machida (21-4 MMA, 13-4 UFC)? “Give me what is mine,” he said.

But following UFC 172 this past Saturday in Baltimore, White said Belfort will need to do a little more than just home testing if he wants to pass muster with the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

The NSAC suspended Belfort in 2006 after a loss to Dan Henderson at PRIDE 32 when he tested positive for elevated testosterone levels. That previous infraction theoretically makes it harder for him to get a license from the NSAC – which he would need to do for UFC 173, which takes place in Las Vegas. And UFC 175 is there, as well.

Belfort’s most recent three fights, all “Knockout of the Night” wins while using TRT, took place in Brazil. He hasn’t fought in Las Vegas since UFC 126 in February 2011, when he was knocked out by Anderson Silva in a middleweight title fight.

“He’s got to solve his problems with the Nevada State Athletic Commission, and when he does that, we can figure it out,” White said. “He better get to work (if he wants to fight in July). He’s got a lot of work to do. That s–t doesn’t just happen like that. You’ve got to get on the agenda – he’s got a lot of work to do.

“He’s fooling himself if that’s what he really thinks, is that he took a couple home tests and he’s ready to roll, or whatever he did. He’s always fun. He’s hilarious.”

If Belfort ultimately is granted a license to fight in Nevada, it essentially opens the door for him to fight elsewhere without much issue, and it appears that is what he will do to get the ball rolling.

“He’ll apply in Nevada, and then he can fight anywhere (if he’s approved),” White said.

"It makes no sense that (Machida) is fighting for the title. Jacare should be the one (fighting Weidman)," Belfort told Sensei Sportv in Brazil. "If there’s a ranking, they should validate it. But the ranking does not exist, so we have to accept. Whoever has the belt will be my next opponent. That’s a fact."

Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza, a former Strikeforce middleweight champion, is 3-0 in the UFC with wins over Francis Carmont, Yushin Okami and Chris Camozzi. Machida is a former UFC light heavyweight champion with a 2-0 record since cutting down to 185 pounds, defeating Gegard Mousasi and Mark Munoz.

Belfort dropped TRT and is back to training and says he feels great without the therapy, but his testosterone levels are far from the normal range.

"I feel like an animal," he said. "The Holy Spirit gives me everything I need. I’m training like an animal. Nobody trains harder than me.

"My hormone stays at 200 today, and the normal range is from 300 to 800. (TRT) raised my levels to a normal range according to the commission. My hormone was at the same level of my opponents’, so they are in advantage now."

According to the Brazilian, the commission decided to ban TRT because he was knocking people out in the UFC.

"You have TRT in baseball, basketball and many other sports," he said. "Unfortunately, it became a myth (in MMA) because I was knocking people out. That was the problem, and not Chael Sonnen, Frank Mir and Dan Henderson using it."

"After TRT was banned, Dan Henderson fought Shogun (Rua) with TRT," Belfort continued. "That’s funny because a Brazilian can’t use TRT there (in the United States), but an American can fight here. If TRT exists in many others sports, why can’t it exist in MMA? If gives you no advantage, it only puts you at the same level of the other athletes.

"People say ‘oh, so you should retire.’ Yeah, you want me to retire so you won’t get knocked out. I won’t retire. I will be back and I will win."

"To be considered one of the fighters of the year at 36 years old is awesome, but it's also inspiring. It gives hope to people," Sonnen tells Gracie Mag.

"I think outside of Jon Jones, Vitor is the scariest guy in the UFC right now. Vitor's and I's paths will cross. There's two guys that for my career to be complete, I have to fight. It's Wanderlei Silva and Vitor Belfort. That's not a secret. The UFC will tell you the same thing. It has a number of times. Sooner or later that will happen, but in between now and then I'm not going to lie about what an incredible job Vitor has done, particularly in 2013."

Sonnen ticks one box Jul. 5 at UFC 175 when he settles a score with emerging heel Silva, but it's unfamiliar territory against a Brazilian. Content with his role as the promotion's chief villain, Sonnen insists it's his natural persona that's made him a wealthy man.

"I get asked all the time whether I've been misunderstood by the fans," says Sonnen. "I have never asked the crowd for their approval and I will never start. I will never hope to walk into a room and be cheered. I'm OK with being booed. I will not pretend to be something that I'm not. I certainly won't do it to win the audience over. I've been myself and with that said I'm the biggest draw in the sport. I'm the highest paid fighter the UFC's had. Dana White just disclosed the biggest check he's ever written after a fight was to me. I'm not in this for the money and I'm not in it for the fame, but I do believe a person should just be themselves."

Let's just say for argument's sake, Dana and ZUFFA have a complete brain fart and go, "Fuckit, Machida's out since Vitor had it first", wouldn't he have to get licensed in Nevada and have the previous pop test go public, which he and/or his handlers intentionally chose not to disclose after he dropped out due to the TRT ban? I thought that had kind of fucked Vitor going forward because when applying for a license in the States, the commissions will honour that previous pop test and the results would have to be disclosed??? Or am I missing something?

Let's just say for argument's sake, Dana and ZUFFA have a complete brain fart and go, "Fuckit, Machida's out since Vitor had it first", wouldn't he have to get licensed in Nevada and have the previous pop test go public, which he and/or his handlers intentionally chose not to disclose after he dropped out due to the TRT ban? I thought that had kind of fucked Vitor going forward because when applying for a license in the States, the commissions will honour that previous pop test and the results would have to be disclosed??? Or am I missing something?

There would be a lot of red tape for him to get through. Even if Machida was injured today the UFC would have Jacare and Rockhold on stand by in case Vitor couldn't get licensed.

"If a man with no arms and a man with no legs started learning karate, the same light bulb would appear over every head in Japan. That’s right: Glue them together and see if it can kill a panda."

OK, so can we gather that, if he fights within the United States again, any commission will want to see that result before they license him, so to honour the work of a fellow US athletic governing body?

"He can fight here, no problem, but he can’t use TRT," Brazilian MMA Athletic Commission (CABMMA) medical director Dr. Marcio Tannure told MMAFighting.com. "Since he doesn’t have a license to use TRT anymore, he would be tested like any other fighter."

If he’s scheduled to fight in Brazil, Belfort wouldn’t be tested throughout his camp like in his three previous fights in his native country, when he stopped Michael Bisping, Luke Rockhold and Dan Henderson. He would even be cleared by the commission to headline The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 3 Finale card on May 31.

"As far as license with the (CABMMA), he would be able to fight no problem," he said. "He would be tested like any other fighter. If he failed any test, he would be suspended like any other regular fighter."

Belfort hopes to fight the winner of Chris Weidman vs. Lyoto Machida for the UFC middleweight title when he returns to the Octagon later this year, but he will probably will face issues with athletic commissions in the United States.

FOX Sports reported in March that the Brazilian will likely need to reveal the result of the "irrelevant" surprise drug test he was asked to take by the NSAC during the World MMA Awards in February. Belfort is the only one who could reveal the result of the test, but it’s unlikely that CABMMA would ask for it.

"Every commission has its standards," Dr. Tannure said. "I don’t know which test he did and what was the result, so I can’t talk about it and which criteria they’re considering in (Belfort’s) case."

"Every time a fighter that tested positive in the past applies for a license in Nevada is tested again, and we will adopt that here as well," he continued. "This is an interesting criteria, and we will also do it, but (Belfort) never tested positive here."